Self-study
Support A recently passed law requires all places of public accommodation to eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities by removing all physical barriers to accessibility. ███████ ████████ ██████████ ███ ███████ █████████ ██ ████ █████ ████████ ██████████ ██████████ ██ ███████ ████ █████████████
Argument Summary
Here’s a plain-English summary of the argument:
Premise: If you’re a place of public accommodation, you gotta [build ramps and such*].
(Assumption goes here)
________
Conclusion: Private schools are gonna have to [build ramps and such*].
*Note that the summary treats
Sufficient assumption questions (see “follows logically if”) present us with an argument that has a gap somewhere and ask us to completely fill the gap. The correct answer will add a piece of information that, when combined with the premise we already have, guarantees the conclusion is true.
The assumption here is straightforward enough that you should aspire to put it in your own words up front:
The author assumes this law applies to private schools for some reason.
The premise tells us the law applies to all places of public accommodation, so if we establish that private schools fall into that category, the law will apply to them.
5.
The conclusion above follows logically ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ████████
a
No private school ███ ███████ ████ █████████ ██ █ ██████ ████ █ ███████████
If private schools aren’t allowed to reject students with disabilities, does that mean they’re legally obligated to make their campuses physically accessible to those people?
No – there’s a lot of wiggle room between “you’re allowed to attend school here” and “we’ve built elevators and ramps and such so you can physically access all our facilities.” Ask literally anyone with disabilities and they’ll give you a million examples.
b
Private schools have ████████████ ████ █████████ ██ ███████ ██ ██████████ ██████ ██ ███████████████
This is neither here nor there. How private schools feel about a law has no bearing on whether or not the law applies to them.
c
Private schools, like ██████ ████████ ███ ██████ ██ ██████ ██████████████
If (C) is true, the author’s conclusion must also be true.
If private schools are places of public accommodation, then the law (that says places of public accommodation have to [build ramps and such]) applies to them. That means they’re gonna have to [build ramps and such].
d
Private schools have ██████ █████ ██ ████ █████ ████████ █████████████
(D) reads a bit like a necessary assumption, or just a complaint about the law. Like “hey lawmakers you’re assuming we have the money to even do this!”
Evaluating it as a sufficient assumption, though, just knowing private schools can afford to [build ramps and such] doesn’t guarantee they’re legally obligated to do so.
I mean… I can afford to buy 100,000 pencils. Am I therefore legally obligated to do that?
e
Private property is █████ ██████████ ██ ██ ██████ █████ ██ ██████ ████ ████ ████████████ ████ ████████ ██ ███████████████
With some changes, (E) could be right:
Private property is [always] considered to be [a place of public accommodation] by [the law].
Each of these bolded changes replaces a term that kills (E). “Often” leaves room for private schools to be an exception to the general trend. “Public spaces” aren't necessarily places of public accommodation. The opinion of special interest groups is not the same as the scope of enacted laws.